Sheriff's anger as freed teenager attacks again

A SHERIFF has made a scathing attack on the tagging system for offenders, as he sentenced a teenager to 28 months behind bars for a vicious bottle attack.

At Ayr Sheriff Court yesterday, Sheriff Jack McGowan noted that before the attack, Josh Johnston, 18, had been released on a tag, only weeks after being jailed for six months for another assault.

Sheriff McGowan said: "What I would like to point out for anyone who is interested is that you were sentenced to six months the last time for assault.

"That is, of course, a piece of nonsense, because you didn't do six months. You didn't even do three months, which is half the sentence, because you were released on a tag after a matter of a few weeks.

"Somebody opens the door of a prison and lets you out.

"Perhaps if you had stayed in for three months you might have been dissuaded from behaving in this fashion.

"But having been released, you are then at liberty to continue with this disgusting behaviour."

The sheriff said it was time those who issued tag releases "do their duty" by protecting the public against violent criminals.

Johnston, from Auchinleck, Ayrshire, was one of a gang who beat up a youth from a neighbouring village last September, leaving him badly injured.

In addition to the 28 months, Sheriff McGowan imposed a further two-month sentence for a separate breach of the peace.